Thanks I did it this morning. Dude. That was HARD! Omg! I was like what am I going to do for exercise after I do this little fit test? And that was harder than most of P90X hahahaha. I am going to get served these next two months.

I never started Insanity. Right when I said I was going to start was when it warmed up enough to garden, so I spent almost two weeks dying of sweat in that way. Also i'm scared! I'm thinking of doing P90X again, but only keeping the strength workouts and then doing whatever I want for cardio, since I never learned to love Plyo. Brian and I found a pullup bar at a church sale for $5.

_________________"The Tree is His Penis"

The tree is his penis // it's very exciting // when held up to his mouth // the lights are all lighting // his eyes start a-bulging // in unbridled glee // the tree is his penis // its beauty, effulgent -amandabear

I've been reading Insanity threads on the Beachbody forum getting motivated for tomorrow. I actually feel better! People were posting about how they needed an hour at least to get through the first fit test, how they had zeroes in some columns, how they threw up during it. I thought I did so poorly, but now I feel so much better about it! haha. I guess P90X did make me somewhat stronger.

What are your eating plans like? I didn't change anything during P90x except for adding protein powder to my smoothies. But I guess for this I really should try to do the small frequent meal thing. Argh. Also I should cut down on the junk more. Any tips or personal experiences?

I'm trying to find a calorie plan that works for me and I'm starting at 1600ish calories. That doesn't seem like a lot but I'm 5'2" and my heart rate monitor only gives me a read of burning 300-400 calories during phase 2 of Insanity, Which is forking depressing. Anyway, about 1600 is my official suggested starting point; it seems to be okay and I'm not crashing. Granted I've now missed 3 days of exercise and tracking again, but after 4 days of exercising and watching calories I could see a little bit of a difference. But now I'm crampy and grumpy of eating everything. Go period!

Smaller, frequent meals/snacks is the only way I can keep a low intake like that, though. I usually eat oatmeal for breakfast and have a banana or some other easy fruit plus a single, weighed out serving of nuts for snacking while I'm at work. And I just do a sensible dinner and lunch...of course this was before I got Vegan a la Mode, so who knows what will happen now.

I wish I could find and post the clip from 'Forgetting Sarah Marshall' when Jason Segel says "I've never been so covered in sweat before. It's like I have some sort of fever." I finished Day 2 like an hour ago, and my face is still beet red. Hahahha.

It's crazy huh. I'm up for Insanity Plyometric Cardio Circuit today. I've been doing it for a while instead of the P90X Plyo. That one seems like a gentle stroll in comparison -- I'm totally hot and sweaty for at least an hour after the Insanity stuff!

That's what I had today! P90X plyo really helped prepare me I think. I mean I couldn't keep up at all, but could you imagine what a mess it would have been like if I DIDN'T do P90X plyo first? Man alive.

Insanity Plyo thing is insanely hard. I've been at it once/week for 6 weeks now and I still can't get through it without hitting pause or missing a few seconds here and there to pant. I can only just barely get through the "pure cardio" one and that one's a lot easier. But that Plyo thing, man.

C'mon y'all push. Push! Push! Push push push. I'm gonna push ya, y'all. Ya ready? Push push push. C'mon y'all, push. You gotta push. Push push. Would he forking ever shut up with the push?But what I really love, is when you are in the second set of things, where you have to do the abominable abdominal ski jump crunch things, not the ones where you're standing and hopping side to side, but when you're in plank and have to jump up left and back down and up right and back down, evil twisted ski abdominal things that just kill you, this music comes on that's all epic and war, Russell Crowe on a huge horse with an axe and a sword riding over a green hill in Scotland, running down the Brits or the Romans or the Huns or the Germans or whatever, dum da dum, super epic war movie music, and I still can't do it, collapsing in a sweaty heap on the floor.

I'm going to be away and unable to do Saturday (Day 6) this weekend. What's the best thing to do, try to double up on Friday (yeesh!) or just move everything a day back (I'll be away on the rest day too so I can't switch that up), which will be annoying bc that affects the next 2 months! (I like to be in line with the calendar.) Darn. What about doing Day 6 on next week's rest day? Is that bad?

]I think it depends on what you're missing. I never skip a weight workout so i'd push the whole calendar back for that. But missing a cardio or yoga or recovery day i don't think is a big deal. Can you take your workout with you? I have this fancy new droid phone so i'm gonna try to attach a photo of where i just did mine this morning.ok failed. Can't figure how to attach photo

I'm doing Insanity so it's all cardio. I did cardio recovery today, didn't realize it was like nothing, so I think next week on cardio recovery day I'll add day 6 workout to that. Usually I'm fine with working out when traveling but not this time. Thanks!

Seriously? I did one of the Insanity recovery workouts, I thought it was pretty hard actually. Especially on my legs. I usually do 40 or so minutes of yoga on recovery days, so maybe that's why I thought the Insanity thing seemed pretty tough in comparison.

I couldn't load the photo I took. It was the balcony of my hotel room with my mat and Mac on a chair. When I travel I always bring a ratty old yoga mat to jump on, and my laptop which plays DVDs, and I do the workouts in the morning before work. Sometimes I have to get up at 5am to be able to work out and then make a 7am meeting. Sucks. To motivate I always tell myself: "hey, you will find time to feed your fat asparagus tomorrow, you can find time to work out."

I've skipped for a week, no good. Ultimately, though it's given me time to realize that Insanity phase 2 is no good for me. That extra 15-20 minutes isn't doing a lot for me in comparison to the serious aches and pains it causes my knees. Phase 1 caused no such pain...so I'm just going to start back with the beginning and stick to that until I move on to the X. I'll just do my hybrid with Phase 1 exercises.

I've skipped for a week, no good. Ultimately, though it's given me time to realize that Insanity phase 2 is no good for me. That extra 15-20 minutes isn't doing a lot for me in comparison to the serious aches and pains it causes my knees. Phase 1 caused no such pain...so I'm just going to start back with the beginning and stick to that until I move on to the X. I'll just do my hybrid with Phase 1 exercises.

That's a good plan. Phase 1 (I'm such an expert, in my first week) is really tough and it's still a freaking insane workout. If Phase 2 might cause pain, it's definitely not worth it. I might be in the same boat with my knees, but we'll see when I get there. Having worked with a shittonne of knee surgery patients, I know now that knee health comes above all else.

I haven't tried any of the phase 2 workouts -- what's up with those? Similar pain only longer workouts? Sounds joyful...

Yes...and no. I remember doing Phase 2, day one and pausing the video to complain to my husband that the only thing worse than ski abs and in and outs is COMBINING them into one exercise along with push up jacks and oblique pushups. So you do like 4-4-4-4 and start over. And all of it seems a lot heavier on the pushups, so I'm really not sure WHY it hurts my knees. I think it may be because the stretches are ever so slightly different (and I figured out that my knee pain was muscle related more than joint related from stretches and the like) Anyway, maybe they're right for some people, but their just not my cuppa. I think I'm going to do 3-4 weeks of phase 1, then start my hybrid.

If it tells you anything, one of the warm-ups is like ski abs, but without the touch down in between. In other words, you are on your hands and jump your legs UP and back and forth. No fun.